Review: Jabra SPEAK 410 portable conference speakerphone

Today’s Gadling Gear Review may appear to appeal only to those that make important business calls on the road, but don’t lets its “all work and no play looks fool you” – this product is a real allrounder.

The Jabra SPEAK 410 is a compact USB powered conference speakerphone, designed to pack in your carry-on and help you make hands free calls on the road.

The round speaker is just under 5 inches across (about 25 centimeters) and weighs just 6.5 ounces. The top of the SPEAK 410 is completely taken up by its speaker and omnidirectional microphone, as well as a shiny touch sensitive ring for its various controls.

Using the SPEAK 410 is simple – install the software and plug it in. The Jabra Device Service controls all the functions of the product, and acts as a bridge between it and a variety of desktop communication packages.

Jabra offers two versions of the 410 SPEAK – one for softphones, and one for softphones and Microsoft Lync. On a computer without any softphones, you can use the speaker as a generic audio device. In fact, you can even use the SPEAK 410 without the desktop software as Windows simply detects it as a normal sound device.

The current selection of softphones supported by the SPEAK 410 includes:

  • Avaya IP Softphone/Agent
  • Avaya one-X communicator/Agent
  • Cisco UC Client
  • IBM Lotus Samtime 8.0 / 8.5
  • Skype

Of course, one of the most important features of any speakerphone is of course its sound quality – and you’ll be glad to know that the Jabra SPEAK 410 really delivers. Volume obviously isn’t as loud as from a large desktop phone, but it is certainly beefy enough for a reasonably large conference table with about ten people.

On a call through the Cisco UC client, sound quality for both parties was reported as “excellent” when no more than three feet from the unit.

If your call requires a bit of privacy, you can plug a Jabra 3.5mm headset into the unit and continue your call without others listening in.

Controlling the SPEAK 410 is a breeze – red and green buttons answer or drop the call, mute and volume controls are on the top and sides and the Jabra button switches the call volume buttons to ringer volume. Around the edge of the speaker are LED’s – red when on mute, yellow for ringer volume setting and white for call volume and incoming calls.

When not in use, the USB cord wraps around the base. While this may seem primitive, it does make it very quick to wind up, with no parts to break. The cord is 28 inches (71 centimeters) long.

The package includes a padded carrying case, completing the list of reasons the SPEAK 410 is the perfect travel companion. As we mentioned in the beginning, the speaker is not only designed for boring conference calls, when you plug it into your laptop (or desktop), you can also use it to output music or audio from movies.

The Jabra SPEAK 410 retails for $159.99, for more information and a list of retailers, head on over to Jabra.com.